Klopp may not have negotiated for Howe to poach one of his key analysts, Mark Leyland, almost as soon as he took over Newcastle – or to breathe so much new life into Steve Bruce’s old team that they posed an unexpected threat to quadruple chances. of Liverpool. In the case it was tight, but not as close as the score could indicate. Although a heavy but smart Liverpool squad, with Mo Salah and Thiago Alcantara on the bench, had to work hard for a valuable victory sealed by the impressive Nabi Keita in the 19th minute, Allison had little to do. goal of the guest. Klopp’s selection bet had paid dividends. With Trent Alexander-Arnold another unused substitute, the Liverpool manager showed the great strength of his team in depth as, despite the five changes from the team that started the Champions League semi-final in the first match against Villarreal, he strengthened the chances of his team for the title. In addition, as the pressure remained on Manchester City at the top of the Premier League and Newcastle’s record of six home wins was lifted, suspicion grew that James Milner had discovered the secret of eternal football life. Twenty years after his debut with Leeds as a 16-year-old, the midfielder looks incorruptible and, making a rare start to the league, showed no sign of a flag. As Milner prepares to collect more silverware this spring, the words of his former Newcastle manager, Graeme Sunes, sounded hollow again. “You will never win anything with a James Milners team,” he once laughed. Newcastle’s Joelinton and Liverpool’s Diogo Jota clash during a highly controversial first half. Photo: Ian MacNicol / Getty Images Only one was enough to create Keïta’s winning goal. This preamble included Milner coming out of a 50/50 challenge with Fabian Schär unharmed and with the ball. Instead, the collision left the central midfielder on the turf for several minutes. Keïta, usually away from Liverpool’s guaranteed key player, then dribbled Martin Dubravka before shooting through a hastily constructed, distinctly ersatz, defensive wall. As Klopp chased with joy, Howe did not seem impressed. With a majority of more than 52,000 people, he seemed worried that Andre Marriner had made the mistake of continuing to play after Milner’s tackle. With the VAR review deciding otherwise, the goal was stopped and Schär came back limping in action. Although Miguel Almirón believed he had equalized after Alisson’s rounding, the Paraguayan striker’s effort was rightly considered offside. With Almirón and Allan Saint-Maximin failing to make the desired impact on the counterattack against Virgil van Dijk and company, even Bruno Guimarães once failing to come up with his typical ball killer, Liverpool had until then take control, enjoying more than 70% possession. Jordan Henderson was heavily involved in this monopoly of the ball, with the former Sunderland midfielder apparently inspired by the booking that greeted his every touch. Dissatisfied with the overthrow of Jonjo Shelvey, Henderson almost scored a goal for Diogo Jota before halftime thanks to a nice cross from Dubravka that worked wonders to somehow push Jota’s high-speed head into safety. In the second half, Sadio Mané sent a shot that whistled tightly and unobtrusively, after a great performance by Joe Gomez on the right side. Howe turned out to be the slogan to replace Joe Willock, who was reduced to a disappointing peripheral figure by Keita, with Chris Wood and, a little later, Klopp bringing in Salah. The Fiver: sign up and receive our daily football email. Salah’s wonderful first touch created a glorious opening for Luis Díaz, but for a brilliant cut by Newcastle’s underrated left back, Matt Targett, he would definitely have a goal. He soon made Dan Burn look unusually nervous, though he was not as confused as Klopp appeared momentarily when Saint-Maximin flickered for a moment in life. The Frenchman played in Wood only for the New Zealander to shoot directly at Allison. At first it seemed like a big failure, so it was probably just as good for Wood that a lineman offside flag made it academic. A draw always seemed unlikely. Indeed, with the exhausted Dubravka, who excelled in keeping out Jota’s slow shot and Targett with Newcastle’s best players by far, Manchester City was left with a lot of nervousness for many reasons.
